The German construction equipment industry ended 2017 with turnover of 10.8 billion euros – an increase of 15 percent compared to the previous year. It is the fourth consecutive year of growth for the sector. Incoming orders were 19 percent higher by the end of the year. 2018 is therefore expected to be another good year, with the industry predicting an eight percent increase in turnover.

Preliminary calculations by the Federal Statistical Office indicate that, adjusted for price, production in mechanical engineering rose by 3.1 percent last year, reaching a volume of around 212 billion euros thus exceeding the three percent growth predicted by VDMA's economists.

“The German machine tool industry is setting one production record after another.” With this good news, Dr. Heinz-Jürgen Prokop, Chairman of the VDW (German Machine Tool Builders’ Association), Frankfurt am Main, opened the organisation’s annual press conference. In 2017, the sector achieved growth of four per cent, and will thus, according to the provisional results, reach a volume of around 15.7 billion euros. For 2018, the VDW is expecting production output to increase by another five per cent.

The German Maritime LNG Platform and VDMA have agreed a collaborative partnership. By co-operating and mutually supporting each other, the Platform’s Managing Director, Tessa Rodewaldt, and the Managing Director of VDMA Engines and Systems, Peter Müller-Baum, envision a range of constructive opportunities to jointly drive forward future innovation in the shipping sector.

One year after presenting the Clean Energy Package, the EU Energy Ministers have discussed the outstanding central points and agreed on common positions on the topics of the internal market in electricity, governance regulations and support of renewable energies.

Electric power as the foundation for other forms of energy provides solutions for a wide range of applications - Mechanical engineering is a key industry for climate protection - Third VDMA Future Business Summit presents scenarios and potential opportunities for the mechanical and plant engineering industry

Good times for the European agricultural machinery industry – profitable harvests and reasonable prices for agricultural products, particularly milk and forage crops, have fuelled the demand for innovative agricultural machinery and tractors in numerous key markets.

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21 company representatives came together on November 28 for the inaugural meeting of the new committee. The focus is on sustainability requirements and the increasing duties of care throughout the delivery chain, as well as the strategic integration of sustainability in the company.

VDMA’s fears that a common European Sales Law would increase transaction costs and legal uncertainty, and would therefore not be a true added-value for companies, have been recognised by decision makers in Brussels.

Machines improve our lives – on a large and small scale. Whether for our health, food or the many means of transportation that we use; whether we are looking at the ground deep below the sea or from high above – we need machines and people who utilize their skills to make the world a better place to live. That is the aim of mechanical and plant engineering. Humans – Machines – Progress.

What humans create with machines

What are the biggest challenges facing mankind? And what contribution are machines and mechanical engineers already making today to solve them? VDMA has been providing the general public with knowledge on mechanical engineering for 125 years.

The VDMA Startup Machine goes live

Europe – Trailblazer for democracy and digitalization

Mechanical engineers and all other companies in Europe agree that democracy is the necessary basis for the domestic market. And digitalization opens the doors to new ideas, technologies and customers. Europe was the pioneer of democracy and Europe also wants to be a pioneer of digitalization.